Stargazer
by stellawritings
Summary: Hoshimi only wants to save her brother. Unfortunately, the changes her existence causes are far greater than she ever could have predicted - and some of them are not for the better. {[OC/SI as Neji's twin]}
Chapter One

* * *

 **Guilty:** _Adj. C_ ulpable of or responsible for a specified wrongdoing; justly chargeable with a particular fault or error.

* * *

Only decades of living among a clan that prizes calm (or at least the appearance of it) keep Hizashi from pacing as he waits for the healer to slide open the door and give him the news. He wanted to be with Hikari during the birth, but the healer had taken one look at him, narrowed her eyes, and thrown him out as Hikari laughed faintly in the background. It has been nearly two hours since then; two hours of standing, spine straight, anxiousness crawling under his skin like the kikaichu the Aburame use. Hizashi doesn't know how much longer he can wait until he's tempted to slide the door open and walk in, healer's orders or no. That's his wife in there. And his _children._

And isn't that a novel thought, both exciting and terrifying in the same moment. Children. Twins. Fraternal, the medic had said - a boy and a girl. Neji and Hoshimi, they'd decided on. Hikari had been overjoyed; she'd always wanted one of each.

Hizashi locks his hands together behind his back. He will _not_ devolve to the point of chewing his nails, no matter how much he wants to.

Then the door slides open with a faint swishand the Hyūga healer, Amaya, walks out, a faint sheen of sweat dotting her wrinkled brow. "It's done," she announces as she steps back with the unspoken indication that Hizashi should follow her back into the room. "They're all fine, though your wife is exhausted."

Hizashi exhales his fears and smiles slightly at Amaya's back as he enters the room. Hikari lies upon the bed, asleep, though Hizashi can deduce enough from the tightness around her eyes and her exhausted chakra reserves to know that she won't be waking up any time soon. That's fine, though; she deserves the rest, and Hizashi can take care of the children on his own until she is healed.

Striding over to the bassinet, Amaya picks up one of the blanket-wrapped bundles, and hands it to Hizashi. "Here. Hold your son."

He carefully curls his arms around the baby, something warm, like sunshine, spreading through his chest. A chubby face with the trademark white Hyūga eyes stares up at him for a single peaceful moment before the mouth opens and the baby starts wailing. Hizashi...well. Hizashi freezes, because this tiny, fragile life in his arms is his _son,_ and he's already unhappy about something.

"Oh, just start rocking him, you fool," Amaya rolls her eyes, exasperation practically dripping from her words. " _Men,"_ she adds, quiet enough that Hizashi almost misses it over the sound of his son doing his best to break their eardrums. He has a rather impressive set of lungs.

Hizashi takes a deep breath and murmurs, "Hello, Neji." Cautiously, he begins to rock the infant back and forth. Under his own attention and Amaya's hawk-like gaze, Neji's wailing slowly begins to taper off, and Hizashi can't help but heave a sigh of relief.

Amaya seems quite satisfied if the look in her eyes and the tilt to her mouth is anything to go by. "Perfectly healthy babe, that one," she says, crossing her arms over her chest. "The girl, though…"

Hizashi's eyes snap up from his son to meet the healer's gaze, instantly tense and alert. The Hyūga are shinobi. _Always_. When one of them implies that something is odd, it rarely leads to something good. Though what a baby girl - _his_ baby girl - could do to justify such a reaction, he can't imagine. "Hoshimi? What do you mean?"

Amaya clicks her tongue, a strange look on her face - something far too close to confusion for Hizashi's comfort . "She hasn't cried, not even once, and she has old eyes. Mark my words, that girl is not normal."

Hizashi resists the urge to swallow around the knot of fear growing in his throat. "You don't think there's something...wrong?" he asks slowly, reluctantly. Disabilities are far from unheard among shinobi, but to be disabled from _birth_ \- there are some that can be worked around, of course, but. The Hyūga are a shinobi clan above all else. They have little use for a child that could be perceived as a weakness - or worse, a blight on the bloodline. Nothing overt would be done, of course, but they are shinobi. There are always, always accidents. Plausible deniability. And the Hyūga might just be the worst of the clans in Konoha in terms of the lengths they will go to in their efforts to keep the clan strong.

Something like sympathy edges into Amaya's eyes and softens the line of her mouth. "Not like you're thinking. But she's one to keep an eye on, all the same."

That...is good, but lacks any sort of specificity and is all the more ominous for it. If it were anyone else, Hizashi would nod in apparent agreement and then privately dismiss her concerns, but this woman has been the Hyūga's foremost healer since before Hizashi was born and has seen more in her time than he likely ever will. If she says his daughter is...unusual, there's a decent chance she's right. Hizashi can only hope it doesn't turn out to be anything bad.

* * *

Amaya is right, of course.

Both of his children prove to be highly intelligent at a young age, but for all that Hoshimi and Neji speak their first words around the same time, learn the basic stances of the Gentle Fist at similar rates, something lurks in Hoshimi's eyes. Something calculating and all-too knowing.

The day Hinata turns three, and Hizashi is forced to turn over his children to be branded with that horrid seal, Neji suspects nothing untoward about the whole affair. He's smiling as he returns to Hizashi's side; for now, he only knows that the seal is to prevent the Byakugan from being stolen. Neji has yet to understand exactly what the members of the Main House truly mean when they say such things. But Hoshimi...Hizashi takes one look at her and can tell that she _knows_ , somehow.

Hoshimi has always been quiet and reserved in a way very few children are, even among the Hyūga, but now there is a shadow of something grim and resigned and _furious_ ; she looks like a chained animal that knows it cannot escape, no matter how it struggles.

It is the same look Hizashi sees in the mirror.

Hizashi sighs. "Sit. We have been invited to watch Hinata-sama's training, and it's beginning soon."

The twins obediently fold into the _seiza_ position next to him, Hoshimi directly at his left, and Neji at hers. For all that they are twins and Hoshimi is no more than half an hour older, she is still the eldest, and that means something in this clan.

The door to the dojo slides open and Hiashi strides in with Hinata toddling behind him. Hiashi nods to them in greeting before turning to his daughter and beginning the spar. Hizashi clenches his jaw and only just barely resists from audibly gritting his teeth. This is no polite invitation to a brother or an uncle. This is a dismissal, a reminder that he and his children are outsiders, are _subservient,_ no matter how close he might have been to Hiashi once upon a time.

Hizashi detests it.

Oh, he understands how his brother is put in a difficult position with the elders whenever Hizashi does his best to push for even the slightest reforms of the clan's structure, understands that Hiashi's power balances on the elders' approval. But Hizashi will always, always hate that his brother cannot bring himself to actually _stand up_ to them. Especially now, when Hizashi has his children - his brilliant twins, who could so much more if they weren't fettered by the barbaric rules that will forever keep them at a disadvantage. Before he's even consciously aware of it, Hizashi is radiating killing intent. Subtle, but there all the same.

"Father?" Hoshimi murmurs, quiet enough that only he and Neji can hear, despite the fact that her voice carries a sense of urgency with it.

Hizashi starts, switching his gaze from his brother and niece to his daughter. But before he can reassure her Hiashi is sliding forward, hand in a half-tiger seal, and then-

Pain.

Pain.

 _Pain._

Needles heated by fire stab into his skull, and twist, driving out every sensation except for the agony. Hizashi is only very distantly aware of screaming, falling forward and scrabbling at his head, at the hitai-ate that hides his curse seal, in an attempt to do something, anything to alleviate the pain.

And just as soon as it began, it stops, receding and leaving behind only a terrible memory that leaves him gasping for breath and trembling on the floor.

"Father!" Neji yells, eyes wide and wet with unshed tears as he kneels next to Hizashi. Hoshimi is kneeling just in front of him, hands hovering over Hizashi's head even as her eyes dart between them and Hiashi. She doesn't say anything, but her mouth is tight and thin, blade-like, and her eyes are just as terrified as her brother's.

Hizashi cannot help but hate Hiashi a little bit for using such a seal on someone that should be family, but it's only cemented by the fact that he chose to do such a thing in front of his _children._ His children, who are only four, not even old enough to enter the Academy during peacetime.

"Leave," Hiashi says, flat and uncaring, as if he's done nothing more significant than sweep dust off of his shelves. "I have had enough of your foolishness."

An outsider watching this scene would think that Hiashi and Hizashi had never spoken a friendly word to each other in their entire lives, for all that they were the best of friends in childhood. Hizashi pushes himself to his feet and does his best to ignore how hard he's shaking.

"Come, Hoshimi, Neji," Hizashi says as he strides to the door and refuses to look back.

The week that follows tests his resolve in ways that leave him tired and aching and longing for his wife and children. But in the end, he makes his choice - the first one he's had in longer than he cares to remember - and walks to his fate, head held high. It's a more honorable end than he expected he'd get.

* * *

The human brain is an incredibly complicated thing; the long-term memory centers only really begin functioning about three years after birth, and even then the brain still has nearly two decades until it finishes developing. No matter how powerful the soul, or spirit, whatever you want to call it, there will always be limitations placed upon it by the body. So while Hoshimi has always known that she was once from somewhere else, the transition between lives was not as jarring as one might expect. The knowledge has always been there; it simply took a while for Hoshimi to become fully aware of it.

But it's not until Neji is throwing his teacup at the wall and letting out an incoherent scream of rage and Hikari is sitting at the table, head buried in her hands as she weeps silently, that Hoshimi truly realizes just what it means to have that knowledge. Her family grieves Hizashi's death, but Hoshimi feels as numb and cold as if she were a statue carved from ice, because she knew this was coming. She knew Hizashi would die.

And she hadn't done _anything._

Hoshimi had forgotten that the scene in the dojo happened only the day before the Kumo shinobi tried to kidnap Hinata, and while that could be excused, she still knew that it would happen at _some point._ But she hadn't even thought about it. She'd ignored it, because really, what were those strange memories of another world lurking in the back of her skull? Yes, they were right, sometimes, but it was easier to pretend that they were just the result of her overactive imagination. Hoshimi dreamed up worlds as she slept, sometimes, so for a time she was content to ignore her memories as something that...well. Something that reflected her world, maybe, instead of something that predicted it.

That choice had gotten her father killed.

Guilt claws at her stomach, digging in deep and tugging until she wants to throw up. She can't bring herself to look at her family for a moment longer, not when she's the reason they're grieving, if only indirectly. Hoshimi turns on her heel and sprints back to her room, where she dives into her bed and curls up under the covers before beginning to sob.

Her father is gone and they don't even have a body to bury and _it's all because of her._ Because she didn't want to believe what little she remembered, because it was _too hard._ Hoshimi laughs, and it's an ugly thing, bitter and strangled between her gasping breaths. She didn't want to think about a future where Konoha was invaded, where shinobi were forced into war against a god, so she didn't - and look at where it got her. This is a small tragedy, really, on the scale of what she knows is coming, but that hardly helps fill the hole in her chest.

Because her father, who raised her, who trained her, who taught her how to read, is dead, and there's no fixing it. It's too late for that.

And - oh. No, no, _no._ Neji. If the manga is right, if it really does tell the future of this world, Neji is going to _die._ Some of Hoshimi's memories of the story are fuzzy, but that, she remembers clearly. She shudders, pulling the blankets tighter around herself, and bites down on her lip until it bleeds.

If Hoshimi doesn't change something, Neji, her little brother, who is intertwined in her every memory of this world, is going to die before he's even twenty. No. He can't-

Hoshimi can't let that happen. She _can't._ There has to be something she can do, no matter how small, and she won't be able to live with herself if she let a family member die a second time when there's even a chance to prevent it. But - doing so may be just as terrifying as the idea of losing Neji, because that means facing down Akatsuki and _Madara._ At eighteen. Without the benefit of being some 'reincarnation' or even a distant descendent of the Rikudō Sennin or a jinchūriki. Hoshimi has only her vague memories of the future and the Byakugan, a dōjutsu she knows to be inferior to the Sharingan, despite the Hyūga's public stance on the matter.

The war may be fourteen years in the future, but Hoshimi is paralyzed by the mere thought of having to participate in it. She's just one girl, not even anyone special. But - Neji. Their father, who she knows died to prevent a war and protect them. Her duty to her family, because all Hyūga understand that, no matter their age. And...it's not like Hoshimi wants to do something absurd, like fight Akatsuki head-on. Just protect one person. That's not too much to reach for, right?

She doesn't know what to do, hardly even knows where to start, but she knows she has to do _something._

Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura can go and be big damn heroes and save the world. Hoshimi just wants to keep her family safe. Someone has to, and Hizashi isn't here anymore (because she failed him), and Neji and Hikari don't know what's coming.

Hoshimi pushes herself into a sitting position and curls her hands, chubby with baby fat, into fists on her lap. In that other world, she was never one for mourning; instead, she pushed through it, until the grief had settled into an ache remembered only when deliberately searched for. It's a skill no four-year-old should have, but Hoshimi makes use of it and focuses the entirety of her conscious mind on what she can recall of the manga. She forces herself to stand, ignoring the way her breathing hitches with every half-gasp, half-sob she lets out, and crosses the room to her desk. Collapsing into the chair, Hoshimi pushes the brush and ink pot and sloppy, half-finished attempts at calligraphy to the edge of the desk, revealing a pen and a notebook under the pile.

It hadn't taken long for Hoshimi to realize that the language she remembered, despite the fact that (as far as she could tell) no one spoke it in this world, was indeed a legitimate and complete language. As a child of a shinobi clan, it didn't take much for Hoshimi to make the leap from that to using it as a code that would be very, very hard to crack. Every code in this world is at least _based_ on Japanese, but English developed separately from Japanese and follows few of the same rules. Which is good, because Hoshimi does _not_ have the patience or intelligence to create her own code, and the absolute last thing she wants is for knowledge of the future to fall into someone else's hands. If that happens, it'll probably be Danzō, and that - yeah. That's not something Hoshimi wants to contemplate.

So. She flips open the notebook, picks up her pen, and stares down at the blank page. What does she remember?

Hoshimi writes down absolutely everything - techniques and the theory behind them, enemies, an approximate timeline, Madara's history, the names and affiliations of the jinchūriki. If there are wet spots on the paper where tears dripped down her face before Hoshimi could wipe them away, well. They stop eventually, and her handwriting steadies gradually as her breathing calms.

It takes hours, but eventually she finishes at sets down her pen with a quiet sigh. There's just _so much,_ most of it larger-than-life, even by shinobi standards. The legendary Rinnegan, the power of a god, men who can decimate armies with a gesture of their fingers. Hoshimi shivers, suddenly feeling cold. She's in way over her head, for all that the worst of it is more than ten years away.

Training is going to be different, now. Hoshimi has always had trouble focusing on long-term goals instead of immediate gain, but fear is a powerful motivator, and the clan already requires her to train as frequently as her tiny four-year-old body can handle. The Hyūga are one of the very few clans that require each and every member learn how to fight and mold chakra, even if they never end up going to the Academy. From the time they can walk, Hyūga children are given toy shuriken and kunai, encouraged to play hide and seek, taught dances and stretches and games that evolve into the basic stances of Jūken. Reminded of their duty to their clan, of the fact that many villages would happily slaughter all of them to gain access to the Byakugan.

If there's one thing shinobi clans are good at, it's churning out child soldiers. It's horrifying, but it suits Hoshimi's purposes, and she can't change it anymore than she can remove the cursed seal from her forehead.

Hoshimi jumps when someone knocks at the door, grabbing her notebook and hastily shoving it in one of the desk drawers. "Yes?" she calls.

"Dinner," comes the response. It's Neji, but far more subdued than Hoshimi has ever heard him.

She crosses the room in a few quick strides and tugs the door open. Neji's eyes are red and watery, his shoulders tight. Hoshimi reaches out to yank her brother into a hug; he looks like he needs one. She squeezes him tight and buries her face against his shoulder as tears well up in her eyes. "I'm sorry," Hoshimi whispers, because it needs to be said. Even if Neji doesn't know why. "I'm _so sorry."_

Neji's swallow is audible. "I want him back," he says, voice thick as he wraps his arms around her waist and squeezes back.

Hoshimi lets out a choked sob. "Me too, Otōto. Me too."

Dinner can wait for a little while. Right now, they need this.

* * *

Things become far more difficult after that. Hoshimi is occupied by her books and scrolls more often than not. Hikari is miserable, and begins taking more and more missions outside of the village to the point where it's a rare month that she spends more than a week at home. Neji is in turns resigned to his what he believes to be his fate and filled with vitriolic hatred directed solely at the Main House.

While Hoshimi detests Hiashi and has a hard time thinking of him as a decent human being, she has nothing against Hinata. Neji, though, hates every last member of the Main House equally, and he has yet to learn to restrain himself from showing it. Tensions ease slightly when their eighth birthday passes and they enter the Academy, but they're far from completely erased.

Despite Hoshimi's best efforts, Neji starts spewing crap about fate, though she'd like to think he's not quite as bad as he could be. The twins study hard, but Hoshimi does slightly poorer academically as the years pass. She's never had the patience or focus for schoolwork, and it starts to show. No matter how terrified she is of what's to come, the fact remains that it's _years_ away, and that makes it hard to muster up the motivation necessary to power through boring essays and the like.

Neji, however, is easily top of their class, and develops a degree of focus and accuracy with his Byakugan that Hoshimi has an incredibly difficult time matching. By the time he's ten, he can see tenketsu where Hoshimi can only detect vague blurs. The power of a Hyūga's Byakugan is, unfortunately, determined by genetics and innate talent instead of any kind of practical training. She takes petty joy in the fact that her chakra control outstrips Neji's, however.

That's around the same time Hoshimi decides not to limit herself to close-range combat, and demands archery lessons from her uncle on her mother's side. Kunai and shuriken are all well and good, but arrows can fly farther with less chakra, and Hoshimi intends to use her bow to cut down her opponents before they notice her, not in open combat. Hoshimi will add ninjutsu to her repertoire when she can, but right now her chakra reserves are too small for any elemental techniques to be efficient in combat.

Ten years old, and she's already planning more efficient ways to kill people. In that other world, she probably would've been sent to a psychiatrist by now. Here, she's lauded as clever. Hoshimi isn't sure which she'd actually prefer.

* * *

Hoshimi is understandably wary when Hiashi decides to request them for a training session with Hinata on the anniversary of Hizashi's death. Neji is always moody on this particular date, and recently he's grown irritated by how much time Hinata's training cuts away from his own. Hoshimi sympathizes, of course, but she's not Neji, who rails against the confines of his cage even as he pretends to accept them. She keeps her head down and her mouth shut, and she will continue to do so unless something drastic happens. It's kept her cursed seal from being activated, so far, and while Hoshimi has never seen anyone use Neji's to punish him, she has her suspicions.

Glancing over at her brother, Hoshimi slides the door open and enters the dojo, bowing to Hinata, Hiashi, and the elder - Hideaki, her grandfather. Neji's jaw tightens and his eyes narrow into something just short of a glare, but he bows as well. Hoshimi almost lets out a sigh of relief. At least he's willing to play along. They might just get out of this before it blows up in their faces _too_ badly.

Hiashi dips his head in greeting. "Neji, Hinata, step forward."

Hoshimi shuffles to the side and sits in the traditional _seiza_ position as Neji crosses to the center of the room and Hinata leaves her father's side to stand across from him. They slip into matching stances without prompting. The twins have been Hinata's sparring partners practically since her training began; they know the drill by now.

"Neji, defend only. Hinata, attack," Hiashi orders as he crosses his arms over his chest. They begin without another word, and Hiashi focuses the full weight of his critical gaze upon the two combatants. Hoshimi doesn't envy them that; when Hiashi gets like this, pale eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, a hint of a frown on his usually neutral face, she feels both naked and entirely inadequate. She would be impressed by how effectively he can throw her off-balance with a single look, if it weren't so embarrassing.

Neji and Hinata continue, only the sound of skin hitting skin breaking the silence. Hinata is...well, not _bad,_ persay; her form is nearly perfect and her footwork decent, but her strikes are slow and there's little force behind them. Maybe Hinata just doesn't want to risk hurting Neji, but Hoshimi can see Neji growing more irritated by the minute in the tension in his shoulders and the way his mouth twitches every so often, like he's physically restraining himself from making a biting comment.

Eventually, he lets out an aggravated sigh and pulls out of his Gentle Fist stance, lowering his hands and standing straight. The insult hangs heavy in the air, unspoken and somehow all the more meaningful for it. It implies that Neji doesn't even have to pay attention to Hinata to defend himself, that she's no threat to him. Which...is true, certainly, but still. It's very, very disrespectful among shinobi, even more so when a clan heir is the slighted party. Hoshimi shifts on the hard wooden floor, easing the burden on her ankles so she doesn't cut off her circulation.

Hinata mirrors Neji and steps back from her stance. "Neji-nii-san?" she queries hesitantly.

Neji ignores her, instead looking over her head at Hiashi. "Her sparring partner doesn't have to me be, or Hoshimi. Please let us do our own training." For all that he says please, his tone makes it a hair shy of an order, and Hoshimi winces. One of these days, Neji really is going to have to learn how to show respect even when he doesn't feel it, or he's only going to get into more trouble. At six or seven, it was excusable. Now...Hiashi is going to stop letting it go, and soon.

"No, not yet. Continue." Hiashi does not turn to meet Neji's as he responds. It's a clear dismissal, a reminder that members of the Branch House have no power here, no matter how much praise is heaped upon Neji for his skills.

This isn't going to end well.

"P-please, Neji-nii-san, let's continue," Hinata says earnestly, returning to her combat stance. Her patience and kindness never seems to run out, and Hoshimi doesn't know whether to find it pitiable or inspiring. As much as she loves her brother, she knows full well that his hatred for Hinata is entirely undeserved, and Hoshimi has wished many, many times for Hinata to just _stand up for herself_ and tell him off. Hoshimi has tried to do it in Hinata's place, but that only ends in sealed doors and complete lack of communication for at least three days.

Neji scowls at Hinata, his lip curling up slightly to expose his teeth as his eyes narrow into the infuriated glare of a trapped animal. He has no choices here. He knows it, and he hates it. "Understood," he grinds out before settling into the basic Gentle Fist stance.

Hinata visibly steels herself before she charges Neji with a cry and aims a palm strike at his throat. She's actually trying now, which can only be an improvement. It's not like relations between those two can get any worse, and making a serious effort at fighting Neji might actually help.

Or. Well. It might help in the future. The very, very distant future. Hoshimi winces at the loud _crack_ that rings through the air as Neji carelessly slaps away Hinata's attack with far more force than necessary, sending her stumbling back. Before, he was at least using traditional blocks to defend, but this is just - this is just him playing with her.

"What's the matter, Hinata-sama?" Neji taunts, a dark smirk tugging on his face and warping it into something foreign and ugly. "This isn't a game, you know."

Hoshimi has never once contemplated the idea that her brother might go bad, for all of the darkness festering inside of him. He's kind to her and always treats their mother with respect, and Hoshimi knows how much Naruto's influence will change him. But in that moment, he seems almost as sinister as what she remembers of Orochimaru, and Hoshimi can't help but wonder what will happen to him if he _doesn't_ meet Naruto.

She can very, very easily see him becoming another Itachi, or the lie that Itachi lived. The mere thought of it terrifies her.

Apparently Hinata sees it too, because she hesitates for several seconds before continuing her assault. Neji doesn't even bother to block, simply flowing out of the way with that smirk still crawling across his face. It leaves Hinata open, and Neji takes full advantage of it. She manages to block the first two strikes at her head, but Neji catches her diaphragm with the third, pushing the breath out of her lungs with enough force for it to be audible.

Hoshimi shifts on the hard wooden floor, easing the burden on her ankles so she doesn't cut off her circulation as she debates over the benefits of interfering. This is vicious, even for Neji.

She sneaks a glance over at Hiashi, but he has yet to react, so Hoshimi settles for clenching her hands into fists on her lap. For all that he never compliments Hinata when she does something right and makes a point out of criticizing her every time she fails, for all that Hoshimi nurses a deep-rooted dislike over how he treats members of the Branch House, she trusts that he won't tolerate anyone actually hurting Hinata.

"This is pathetic," Neji snarls as his next strike lands under Hinata's chin, snapping it up in a manner that can't be anything but painful. To Hinata's credit, she manages to block his next few blows, but she simply can't match Neji's determination to do some actual damage, and that makes all the difference. Her guard breaks.

"How do you expect to fulfill your destiny as the Head of the Hyūga Clan like this?!" he shouts as he launches into an attack that might actually break a bone if it lands. And that - Hoshimi can't let that happen, not just for Hinata, but because of what Hiashi will do to her brother.

"Neji-!" Hoshimi cries as she shoots to her feet, but Hiashi has already moved. The Clan Head grabs Neji's wrist and casually tosses him over his shoulder with enough force that he continues sliding even after he hits the floor. Hoshimi hesitates, torn between going to her brother (who kind of got what he deserved) and the threat of facing Hiashi's anger.

Then Hiashi brings his hand up into a half-tiger seal, and Neji _screams._

If Hiashi hadn't used the cursed seal, Hoshimi probably would have sided with him, in all honesty, but using that seal for punishment is something she will never condone.

"Neji-nii!" the childish cry tears from her throat as she races to her twin and drops to her knees at his side, ignoring the pain of bone striking wood with only a thin layer of skin as a barrier. Neji doesn't respond, probably can't even hear her, only tears at the bandages wrapped around his forehead and screams all the louder. Hoshimi's hands flutter over Neji's body; she wants to help, but she _can't,_ she doesn't know how, nothing can stop this except-

Hoshimi whirls around to face Hiashi who is watching the whole scene impassively, face smooth and hard as polished marble. She can't understand it, will _never_ understand how he can do this to a child or his brother without even blinking. "Stop it!" demands Hoshimi. "Please, stop it! He's just an angry kid, and I'm sorry he hurt Hinata, but you can't just _do_ this!"

If she had been thinking more clearly, Hoshimi would've known what was coming the moment she opened her mouth. But she didn't, and so she only has a split second to feel surprise when Hiashi's face hardens and something in her head pulls taught, and then - then there's nothing but whitewhitewhite everywhere and burning and someone's screaming echoing in her ears until something _breaks_ and the only thing she knows is darkness.

* * *

Consciousness comes gradually; her senses reassert themselves slowly, one by one. Her body feels like one massive bruise, and she nearly collapses when she tries to push herself into a sitting position. It doesn't take long for Hoshimi to realize the bed she's lying on isn't in her room, but it's still familiar; this is Amaya's clinic, which Hoshimi has previously visited only for injuries incurred while training. Someone must have brought her here. Probably a good idea, given how terrible she feels.

Hell. So that's the power of the cursed seal.

Meant to protect the Byakugan and the clan? Bullshit. The damn thing is a torture seal, no more and no less. How hard can it possibly be to create something that only destroys the Byakugan upon death, and just apply it to every member of the clan? Hoshimi doesn't know much about fūinjutsu beyond the basics, but she sincerely doubts it's impossible.

"Ah, you're awake."

Hoshimi looks up as Amaya walks around the decorative room divider hiding her from the rest of the room. "Uh, yeah," Hoshimi fidgets and brings a hand up to rub at her exposed forehead. "Is Neji here too? Is he okay?"

Amaya huffs out a quiet laugh. "Your brother is fine, Hoshimi-chan, just sleeping. He had it a little worse than you, so he's going to need more time to rest before he gets up."

A thread of alarm shoots up Hoshimi's spine. "Worse? But he's going to be okay, right? No permanent side effects?" It's a question that needs to be asked, because every member of the Branch House knows the fate of Hyūga Kazuki and dozens before him, and none of them want to share it. Death is not the only permanent injury the cursed seal can inflict.

In any other village, the Caged Bird Seal would be declared a kinjutsu and locked away. Konoha, for all its pro-peace agenda, was founded on the idea of clans working together as separate units making up a whole, and they have far more leeway in Konoha than those in the other shinobi villages.

"He might be shaky for a day or so, just like you, but you should both heal up fine as long as you avoid the Main House for another week or so," Amaya says with an exasperated sigh. "Really, it's almost like you don't trust my work."

Relieved, Hoshimi allows herself to relax as she exhales. "Of course not, Amaya-sensei. I'm just…" she makes a vague gesture, "worried."

"Understandable, given what happened." Amaya's expression is carefully neutral.

Hoshimi lets out an exhausted sigh. "Neji's just going to hate them even more, now. I'm not sure I can blame him, either…" Yes, what he'd done to Hinata had been unnecessary and cruel, but Hoshimi was pretty sure there were better ways of dealing with it than activating the torture seal tattooed into his head.

"I certainly don't," Amaya says flatly. Hoshimi's wide-eyed gaze snaps to the healer's face. Amaya has never, ever, in all the years Hoshimi has known her, expressed an opinion one way or another on the Main House. "They are not the real Hyūga, you know," she continues.

" _What?"_ Hoshimi stares at Amaya and waits for her to repeat herself, because there is absolutely no way she heard that right.

Amaya crosses her arms over her chest and raises a single elegant eyebrow. "How many members of the Main House are there? Ten with official positions, and then their heirs, and in some cases _their_ heirs - no more than thirty people, all told. The Branch House, however, has nearly three hundred people in it, and we are the ones that do all the work, that risk our lives, that fulfill the duty the Main House loves to preach about. _We_ are the clan, and they - no matter what they may think on the matter - are just another group of petty men that crave power."

Hoshimi opens her mouth to say something, then stops, because she has absolutely no idea how to respond to that.

"Well, maybe not all of them," Amaya amends, smiling slightly. "Hinata and Hanabi are adorable."

"Just don't tell Neji," Hoshimi agrees, muffling her laughter behind her hand.

Amaya reaches out and squeezes Hoshimi's shoulder. "Good girl. Take care of your brother, you hear me? That boy is going to burn himself out someday if he doesn't have anyone to tell him when to stop."

"Of course!" Hoshimi nods fervently. A half-remembered dream of Neji's cold body on that desolate, muddy battlefield flickers before her eyes. "He's my little brother. I'm not going to let anything happen to him." Anyone that wants to hurt Neji is going to have to walk over her cold, dead body to do so.

* * *

So! *jazz hands*

Author speaking here. This is my first foray into the Naruto fandom in a...long time. This chapter has been sitting on my hard drive for a while, so I figured I might as well post it. Um. Likes and reviews are like food to my writing, and thus much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed your stay!


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